1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming method and a toner set.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a toner exhibiting excellent low temperature fixability has been demanded in order to fix a toner image with less energy than in the prior art from the viewpoint of an increase in speed and energy saving. It is required to lower the melting temperature or melt viscosity of the binder resin which constitutes the toner in order to lower the fixing temperature of the toner.
Moreover, a technique has been demanded which can improve not only the low temperature fixability but also other properties in association with the request for the diversification or image quality enhancement of printed matters in recent years.
For example, a toner having toner particles which contain a polyester resin as a main component and further contain styrene-(meth)acrylic resin particles and a trace amount of aluminum element has been proposed in JP 2015-148724 A (corresponding to US 2015/220,009 A1, the same shall apply hereinafter) as a technique related to the image quality enhancement of fixed image which has been demanded more and more in recent years. The polyester resin exhibits excellent sharp meltability and has an advantage that the softening point can be easily lowered while maintaining a higher glass transition temperature (Tg) as compared to a styrene-acrylic resin. Moreover, according to the toner, it is possible to suppress the gloss unevenness of a halftone image while maintaining low temperature fixability.
In addition, a toner having toner particles which contain a specific amount of a specific element such as magnesium or calcium together with a sulfur element-containing polymer has been proposed in JP 2002-108019 A (corresponding to US 2002/048,010 A1, the same shall apply hereinafter).